Today Joel and I received a support letter in the mail. I joked about peeling off the stamp and using it in the future to save a little extra money. The stamp HAD NEVER been used. It came fully intact INSIDE of the original mailing envelope. Joel emphatically stated that my idea was a federal crime. According to my hubby, it is illegal to peel a stamp off of an envelope at any time. He even thinks it is a crime to pull off a mistakenly placed stamp and reapply it to the correct location on an envelope. I find this REALLY hard to believe. My ever inquiring mind set out to find the answer to this VERY pertinent question:) Unfortunately, I'm not sure that my source, Happy Texas Momma, really knows what she's talking about. Thus, I decided to ask my brilliant readers what they think. So, readers...Is it illegal to use a stamp that has been attached to an envelope, but never actually used for mailing purposes? Let me know what you think..
PS..I'm TOTALLY NOT making fun of support letter in this blog! This unused stamp just happened to come along with the support letter
6 comments:
ok, according to the us postal service ( http://pe.usps.com/Archive/PDF/DMMArchive0810/P022.pdf ) "Reuse of stamps with intent to cause loss to the government or the USPS is punishable by fine and imprisonment." i don't think reusing an unused stamp causes loss to the federal government. that document also says you can't use "U.S. stamps that are mutilated or defaced; cut from stamped envelopes,
aerogrammes, or stamped cards; covered or coated in such a manner that canceling or defacing marks cannot be printed onto the stamps; or overprinted with an unauthorized design, message, or other marking." so i guess if you peel it rather than cut it, you're ok. the main think i keep finding is that it's ok as long as the stamp is uncancelled - which basically means unused.
did you expect anyone to actually look that up? well, i was kinda bored ;)
Wow..great answer! WAY more than I expected!! If you're bored..you should join swag bucks!! I already qualify for a $10 starbucks gift card (I'm holding out for the 20 dollar Target gift card)...All I really do is use their search engine instead of google!
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okay..so much for me trying to leave a cool banner...just go to the bottom of my blog page if you want to get started!
It isn't illegal to use a stamp that hasn't been used before!!!
ok...this is Joel...my interpretation thus far is that it is illegal to use an unused stamp that has been stuck on an envelope if you cut it off but not if you peel it off. Is it even possible to peel it off? I rest with my case with that rhetorical question.
I don't know if the new glues still respond to the methods of steaming or soaking in water but that's how we used to do it.
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